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Michigan Gets $3M For Fighting Food Stamp Fraud

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LANSING (WWJ/AP) – Michigan will get $3.3 million from the federal government for its past work toward stopping errors in state-administered portions of the food assistance program.

Senator Debbie Stabenow announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture award on Thursday. She said the money should be used to make further improvements in the system to prevent fraud and other abuses in the food assistance program, and also called for continued efforts at the federal level to stop fraud and abuse in the program.

“It is really an outrage when people are cheating and defrauding the system, particularly when it’s something as basic as food for families,” said Stabenow.

“We have people in Michigan, all across Michigan who have paid taxes all their lives, who never thought in their wildest dreams that they would be in a position where they would need to get some temporary help,” she said.

Stabenow said Michigan will receive the additional federal cash as a reward for improvements made during the 2010 fiscal year related to stopping payment errors.